Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1887-08-02
AN i INDIAN i I, IAN BAZAAR.
A Sight Nowhere to he Equaied for In
congrulty and Scenic Eject

What the boulevard is TO the Partisan.
Rotten Row to tn. Englishman and
Broadway to the New Yorker, the In
dian bazaar is to the Hindostani. Tho
Indian bazaar Is conglomeration OF
open shops and general heaping-up
in the streets of perishable wares. Not
OILY is it a place for barter and Dusi-
ness, but it is q huge rendezvous alike
for the idle aud the busy.
And what study is bazaar! Hero
can be seen in Undesirable confusion
a Kaleidoscope panorama of cloth and
color--a sight nowhere to be equaled
for incongruity and scenic eifect-for
here, side by side, are evidences OF q
time when the world was yet young.
Ole can see the jaunty dog-cart OF the
civil servant pick tortuous passage
through the jostling throng, its hub
grinding against the great clumsy
wheels of an ox-cart conveying party
of closely mufiled and ] ealously cur
tanned women to some sacred bathing
CHAT; there clumsy camel here a
numbering elephant with howdah on
back and two loosely trousered guards
men in advance, with long spears rest
ing on shoulder the corIege of some
Indian Prince; whilst hither and thither
strolls the sacred bull, eating at grain
stores, and as likely rs not TO prong
with his gold.tipped horns a man not
careful enough to get out of his way.
The bazar as an architectural study
is interesting. for it can be seen that
before the era of cities the bazaar was
the general meeting place for the trans
action of business. Properly speaking,
there is in every native city aprincipal
bazaar, which bears a close resemblance
to the plaza of Mexican and South
American cities. 1t is great, broad,
open platform, well paved and sur
rounded by high buildings, the lower
floors of these structures being but
open caverns. in which the storekeeper
sits with his wares piled about him.
Various alleys, which were formerly
probably by-paths. lead into the bazaar,
These, as tho city grew, began TO DO
lined with private dwellings. Some OF
these are mere novels. Others tower
high into the air. Generally in close
proximity to the bazaar Is place OF
worship-either mosque or q Hindoo
temple.
The stores, to which allusion has been
made, are used only for the sale OF
precious, or rather valuable, merchan-
disc, such as cloth and jewelry. The
main floor of the bazaar is jealousy
pieccd out among the numerous buck
sters.
The fruiterer brings along with HIM
his long train of buffaloes, from whose
sides hang big sacks laden with the
products of his garden-the water
melon from the sandy banks of the
river, the lucious mango from the mo-
BILE groves, the acid behr, or Indian
plum; the loqudtz, the hchi, the null
berry, and tho miserable gooseberry,
whose green fruit is hidden in thin
shell. From time immemorial the
fruiterer has occupied that distinct
spot, and no one would encroach upon
his prerogative. From dismal. dirty
kitchen, with tray Of greasy sweets
upon his head, pair Of wooden scales
in his hands, naked, with the exception
of dingy loin cloth, is the meta
toaIidh, or sweet-meat man. He, too
has his spot, which is invariably nexI
to the fruit man.
A not unimportant man in this com
munity is the money-changer. To the
people of this coast whose ideas O.
small change are limited to the nickel
it can hardly be conceived that there
exists so small a circulating medium
as 1900 cowries to Ct cents. Tit
money-changer combines money
lending business as well; and it is well
known Of him that he is the human
blood-sucker of the carcasses of his
countrymen. He is always Hindoo-
who, squatting among his pyramida'
heaps of cowry shells, pie, pice and
dund represents the very incarnation
ofsordid wealth. He will haggle ant
bicker for his percentage by tho hou
over the miserable cowry, and will per
jure his soul many time and oftel
in describing the fluctuations OF thu
T money market owing to the do
pressed condition of trade in conse
quence of great'war that is raging il
England. The Hindoos monopoliz
the bazaar trade.
As the bazaar is totally controlled b
r Hindoos, it may naturally be under
e stood that it is clearly. The Hindoo'
? creed is cleanliness above godliness
: Ho is indeed outwardly an immacu
, late creature, washing and purging hi
physical self many times day, Will
1 his moral self may be groyeling in tn
D lowest depths of chicanery and decei
: There can not be brought to the baza
a odorous wares. Fish and butcher-stal
are not permitted within tho confint
of the big bazars. San Frdnct
cO Chronicle